Chapter 81: A Typical Harassment  

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Nonomiya-san has been offering me snacks over text messages recently.

I took her up on the offer, and set up a meeting spot.

Mizuhara’s appetite is still bad, so Nonomiya-san has a lot of leftover high quality snacks.

Nonomiya-san herself is on a diet, so she’s trying to eat as little as possible. I’m the only one eating the snacks.

Even then, I can’t finish all of it.

She always says that she gave me as much as she wanted, so I end up bringing the leftovers to the club and feed the bottomless stomachs of the members.

But every time she gives me the snacks, she seems a little depressed.

I’m also worried about Mizuhara.

There’s only a few days until his brother’s wedding ceremony. He’s probably going to be pretty stressed whether or not he’s attending.

Usually, he doesn’t put off anything no matter how difficult it is, as long as it’s something he has to do. He’s the type to finish things as soon as possible so he doesn’t have to worry about them later.

The only exception was when his mother came to visit.

He still can’t get along with his family…… Absorbed in such thoughts, I completely let my guard down.

In response to the harassments I’ve been getting, Chii-chan advised me to stay away from isolated places, and to have a friend or two around me as much as possible. I didn’t follow her advice.

I’m heading to the rarely used B building alone.

On top of that, I’m going to the girls’ restroom that everyone avoids. There are scary stories about students seeing the reflection of a creepy looking girl in the mirror, but when they bring their friends along to check it out, the girl isn’t there.

It’s been less than a minute after I entered a cubicle in the fabled restroom.

Water came pouring down all over me. Obviously, it wasn’t some strange phenomenon.

Taken by surprise, all I can hear is the sound of a bucket falling on the ground and the laughter of a few girls, followed by their running footsteps.

「……Seriously?」

To think college students still played such childish pranks like this.

Even if I told Chii-chan, she would simply scold me, telling me that bullying doesn’t stop at any age.

Leaving that aside, I have to deal with this terrible situation.

I placed my backpack on the hook on the door, so it didn’t get too wet, but I’m completely soaked.

「……What now?」

I tried squeezing my clothes to get the water out, but it’s cold. It’s February, which is the coldest month of the year.

Luckily, I left my coat in the clubroom.

Also, there are a few karate robes in the clubroom. They’re all so dirty that I don’t know who they belong to anymore, but it’s not like I have a choice.

I’m sending a message to the club members, asking them to bring a coat and a karate robe to me, but my hands freeze.

Michel would be the perfect man for the task, but he’s part of the reason I’m getting harassed.

He’ll be worried if he finds out about the harassments, so I want to hide it from him, but I doubt I can pull it off if he sees me like this.

If I ask the other club members, they’ll most likely get too curious for their own good and end up bringing Michel along.

I’m stuck wondering what to do, when I get a phone call.

My fingers slipped a few times because I’m shivering, but I can see Nonomiya-san’s name displayed on the menu.

「Noda-cchi? Somethin’ happen? I called ye a few times but ye didn’t respond.」

「……Oh, sorry!」

It’s been a while since our arranged meeting time.

「What happened?」

My teeth are chattering, so she must have noticed.

I tell her about the incident, and she says that she’s on her way here.

Phew, I’m relieved. I can only shiver while waiting for her to help me.

Nonomiya-san comes in running and looks at me speechless.

I must be more wet than I thought.

「……Yer gonna catch a cold. Put this on.」

She takes off her down coat and hands it to me.

「But your coat’s gonna get wet.」

「Dontcha worry about it now. Yer hair’s soakin’ wet too.」

Water is dripping from my hair, making her coat wet. I should clean it and return it to her later.

「What do we do? ……We can’t go home like this…」

「My coat is in the clubroom. I was about to wear it over a karate robe before going home.」

「……Yer gon look like a perv.」

Perv?! Well, it’s true that I’ll look weird though.

「Is there a towel in the clubroom or somethin’?」

「We only have rags……」

They might have been towels before.

「Let’s go to the infirmary first of all. They have beds there, so ye should warm yer body first. Ye probably don’t know it, but yer lookin’ real pale. It’s scarin’ the crap outta me.」

「Y-yeah. It’s cold……」

We’re hurrying to the infirmary, but I’m starting to feel numb from the cold. It’s taking us longer than usual to get there.

I’m making weird sounds walking in my wet shoes, and I have Nonomiya-san’s mini towel wrapped over my hair, so everyone’s giving me weird looks as we’re heading to the infirmary.

We’ve finally reached our destination. Fortunately, no one’s here.

「Ye should take off all yer wet clothes. And wrap this sheet on yerself.」

She pulls out a bedsheet she found in a shelf. I wonder if this is really a good idea, but it should be fine if I compensate them.

「……I don’t like the idea of being stark naked on campus.」

I disagree with her suggestion even as I take the sheet from her.

Wearing a bedsheet while naked will make me a pervert if nothing else does.

「That’s natural, I tell ya. I’d be darned shocked if ye were calm about it. But we don’t have a choice. Yer gonna wet the bed like that, and ye must be pretty darn cold. Yer face is real pale.」

「Yeah, but still……」

The water in my clothes is taking the heat away from my body, and I’m approaching my limit.

I’m still hesitant, but Nonomiya-san urges me to use the quilt as a blanket while she’s searching for the remote control for the air conditioner in the infirmary.

That could work…… I see my pale face in the mirror and burst out laughing. Nonomiya-san scolds me, saying that it’s no laughing matter.

It’s true that this isn’t the time or place to be laughing.

「I’m gonna go to the convenience store nearby. They sell undergarments and socks there.」

Nonomiya-san is speaking rapidly. She takes her wallet and leaves the infirmary.

I feel really bad about all this.

I’m examining the sheet and my current situation. I’m still a little hesitant, but it’s true that I’ll catch a cold at this rate.

I don’t think anyone will mind if I rest in bed while pretending to be worse than I actually am.

I sigh and lock the door, take off my clothes, then wrap the sheet around my body.

After laying out the quilt, I unlock the door and quickly get back to bed.

I’d prefer to keep the door shut until Nonomiya-san comes back, but I don’t have a valid reason to lock the door and keep the room to myself.

As I cover myself with the quilt, I’m earnestly praying that no one comes in.

Now, I wonder what I should do from here on out.

The best option is to take a taxi home, but I have to keep the cost in mind.

It takes 40 minutes by car to get home. I don’t know how much it’ll cost to take a taxi for 40 minutes.

But I don’t mind if it’s affordable. My heart sinks when I check the internet.

Even before checking the taxi fares, the first thing I see is a news flash that it’s currently snowing in the city.

There’s going to be a traffic jam when it snows. The taxi fares will spike as well.

And it’s going to be bad for me if the trains are stopped. The snowfall doesn’t look too heavy, so it’s not very likely that the trains are stopped now, but I don’t know what will happen later. This really is a case of adding insult to injury.

As I’m praying that my luck won’t get any worse, my phone vibrates.

Michel’s name is displayed on the screen.

Such bad timing! I try to act normal and pick up the call.

「Um, I heard that you were seen heading to the infirmary!」

「……」

There’s a hint of worry in his usual sweet voice.

I wonder who’s the nosy guy who told Michel…….

「Oh yeah, something came up. But it’s nothing serious.」

I’m trying my best to speak cheerfully in order to persuade him that I’m okay.

「Did you get injured?」

「No, I’m fine.」

Michel is asking me if I’m hurt.

That means that he doesn’t know that I’m soaking wet.

I sigh in relief.

「What?! Then are you feeling unwell……? Um, I’m in the clubroom, I’ll head there right now!」

His voice is filled with concern. He hangs up after saying that.